Senate OKs Prendergast as MTA Head

NEW YORK CITY-Thomas Prendergast, who has served as interim executive director of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority since Joseph Lhota resigned to pursue a mayoral run, now has the leadership job at the agency on a more formal basis. The New York State Senate has confirmed Prendergast as the MTA's chairman and CEO, the governor's office said Thursday afternoon.

Prendergast brings a literal track record to the top job at the MTA. He served for more than three years starting in late 2009 as president of MTA New York City Transit, which runs the subway and bus system in New York City, and for six years between 1994 and 2000 as president of the Long Island Rail Road.

In a statement, Gov. Andrew Cuomo notes that while serving as interim head of the transit agency, Prendergast was “vital to the recovery of the MTA after Superstorm Sandy and he will continue to play a crucial role in making the MTA more modern, efficient and storm ready.” For his part, Prendergast cites the “enormous challenges” the MTA faces in terms of continuing to improve service “while cutting costs and rebuilding stronger” post-Sandy.

Advocates for the riding public have given Prendergast, and Cuomo's appointment of him, high marks. Citing the new MTA head's “decades of running transit systems,” Gene Russianoff, staff attorney for the NYPIRG Straphangers Campaign, says in a statement that Prendergast represent “an outstanding pick to be the chairman and CEO of the MTA. Throughout his time in New York, he's been responsive and accessible to us and our colleagues who work to represent the needs of transit riders.”